Enduring Love
by Phoenix on cloud nine
Summary: When Tony meets a random woman at work, he thinks nothing of it - until the calls, letters and, eventually, violence begin.
1. Chapter 1

***Whistles and looks away* No, I didn't just start another new story what with the backlog I've already got… **

**I couldn't help it! The idea popped into my head (After reading one of the most god-awful books ever, courtesy of my English lit course at college) and I had to get it down, so… *shrugs***

"Hey McMuffintop." Tony said as he sailed into the bullpen at 8 o clock that morning. He grinned at McGee's glare and gestured down to the two sandwiches the younger agent was currently throwing down his throat,

"McGee has been here all night, Tony," Ziva reminded him. "Helping Abby with her computer troubles. He has only just had time to run out and buy food."

"Thank you, Ziva." McGee nodded triumphantly during a pause in eating. Tony rolled his eyes and threw his bag over to his desk, before walking back the way he came.

"Tony, where are you going?" McGee called out. "Gibbs'll kill you if you're not here when he gets back."

Tony turned whilst walking and threw his hands in the air, a smile on his face, "So stall him, Probie, stall him!"

It was whilst doing this he bumped into someone supposedly walking the opposite way to him. He quickly turned round lest it be Gibbs, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was just a woman who he thought he knew from Human Resources,

"Sorry about that," He grinned at her. "I guess I was just a little too eager for some coffee. And speaking of coffee…"

"DiNozzo!"

He cringed as he was cut off from asking her out, and yelled back without looking away from her, "Yeah, Boss!"

"Get over here!"

Tony smiled at the woman and walked away, but not before he asked what her name was. She gazed at him as if slightly stunned and whispered, "Angelique…"

"Pretty." He nodded approvingly, before hastily going back to his desk, immediately forgetting about her as he got a sharp swat to the head and a case file flung in his direction.

He didn't realise, however, that she continued to stare at him long after he lost interest.

~*~

Tony walked along the street happily, shoving some designer sunglasses on. It was a bright day, and warm too, which gave him the perfect opportunity to wear thinner shirts, slightly open and without the jacket and tie. He thought it showed off his abs quite well.

It was their lunch break, and declining Abby's offer of going with her, Ziva and McGee for something, he decided to stroll down to a small coffee shop not far from the building. He wasn't that hungry anyway, and whenever he declined food, he always got teased slightly about him _finally_ trying to slim down, or trying to get his hypochondriac side going by worryingly questioning whether he felt ill or not.

No, this was much better. To walk along to a small shop, not having to make any small talk or try and crack some jokes. Just time to be himself for a while.

He saw his phone ring and glanced at it, praying it wasn't a case. He quirked an eyebrow slightly when he saw it was a withheld number, but nevertheless flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"…" There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment.

"Hello?" Tony asked again, this time getting slightly annoyed. He was about to hang up before the person at the other end spoke up.

"_I know how you feel and… it's okay.. I knew from the moment we saw each other. I love you too."_

Tony's mouth hung open for a few seconds before he shook his head and opened his mouth to respond. It was too late. By the time he had something witty to say, he realised that the other person had hung up.

He recognised that voice. He was sure. He just needed to place it to a face. He was always better at faces than names.

He couldn't call back and see who it was because they had withheld their number, and he thought for a moment about asking McGee to see if he could trace where it came from, before shaking his head and putting his phone back in his pocket. It was more than likely an old girlfriend trying to worry him, or one of his friends trying to joke about (And when he said 'friends' he basically meant Abby, Ziva or McGee, which was a rather depressing thought when you came to think about it - he didn't want to become Gibbs entirely).

His phone rang again, making him jump. Taking it out warily, he laughed slightly when he saw that McGee was phoning. He was way too paranoid.

"Yeah, McGee." He answered.

"_Hey, Tony…" _McGee didn't get any further than that before Tony interrupted,

"Was that other call you, McPhoneJacker? 'Cause I gotta say, I'm impressed. It sounded quite feminine."

"_Ah… no, Tony, no it wasn't. Are you okay? You aren't taking any painkillers, are you?"_

Tony chuckled slightly, "No McGee, I'm fine. Forget it. What do you want?"

"_Gibbs wants you back here, I think we have a case, but he hasn't actually told us yet. He just said, 'Get DiNozzo back here'. So…"_

"I got it, Probie, I'm coming back." He ended the call before McGee could say anything else (A little habit he'd picked up from Gibbs) and turned around from where he'd originally been strolling, deciding to do without lunch for the moment. He'd get some later.

~*~

"There you are, DiNozzo. About time!" Tony sighed. As soon as the elevator door had opened, he'd heard Gibbs yell out to him angrily.

"Boss, in all fairness - I wasn't very far away. I could only have been 5 minutes…"

"Do I look like I care about your excuses?" Gibbs growled, with fire in his eyes.

_Jeeze, _Tony thought, _I wonder what pissed him off. Must be a bad case._

"Won't happen again, Boss." Tony hastily said and went over to his chair. When he noticed that both McGee and Ziva were sat at their desks, rather than getting their bags ready, he assumed he could do the same.

"_Right,_" Gibbs started. "I was just informed by our Director that the agency is being inspected from tomorrow till about Saturday. That means we're going to have someone breathing down our necks for three days. That _also _means we have to have an inspector watching whatever we do when we go for a case."

"Do we have a case, Boss?" Tony asked, inwardly rolling his eyes when Gibbs glared at him, _Okay, I know he's stressed, but there's no need for that._

"Not at the moment. It would be easier to lose this inspector if we did. But at the moment we have nothing. So if you all want to keep your jobs, I suggest you do things by the book."

"Now that's different." Tony piped up, raising an eyebrow. McGee sniggered slightly but waited until Gibbs had left before letting it reach its full volume.

"Man, this sucks," Tony moaned, leaning back in his chair. "I don't know how I'm going to bear it, being watched by some tight-ass man with a Grizzly Adams beard and a clip on tie that'll be his only one."

"You seem to know a lot about these inspectors, Tony." Ziva said, resting back in her chair as well.

"Let's just say this has only happened once before while I've been at NCIS," He replied, grinning slightly. "And I can vaguely remember one that once dared tell Abby she should 'go out with a smaller skirt' to a bar with him. Needless to say, after Gibbs dealt with him, we haven't been interviewed in years. They'll probably send their toughest people. And they tend to look like a kind of perverse Tarzan."

McGee and Ziva laughed, before Tony's phone went off. He looked down and bit his lip when he saw that the number was being withheld again.

"Hey, Probie," He said. "Can you trace a number that's already called and hung up?"

"Not as well as I could if they were on the line," McGee replied. "But I'd get rough co-ordinates."

Tony nodded, but didn't bother asking him to trace his phone. Odds were, it was an ex-girlfriend who still had a grudge. If it got to twenty calls a day, then he'd trace it.

Instead, he answered it, "Hello?"

"…" He heard a slight gasp, as if the other person was thrilled at hearing him talking,

"Hello?"

"_You're like my own Sherlock Holmes," _The voice said (And Tony could now tell that it was a woman. _"Solving mysteries and arresting the bad men. And I'm like your Irene Adler. You'll chase me for a while, in an attempt to woo me, flirt me into submission, but you won't have to, Tony," _He swallowed slightly when he realised she knew his name. And he also now knew it wasn't an ex-girlfriend. None of his sounded this psychotic. _"Because you've got me. I'm yours."_

"Who _are _you?" He asked, and both Ziva and McGee heard the slight panic in his voice. "What do you want?"

"_Don't play games, Tony. We both know you love me. Why can't you admit it?"_

"Listen…" He started, before stopping again. She'd hung up.

"Problem, Tony?" Ziva asked, staring at him in interest.

He opened his mouth before shutting it once more. This woman was obviously a nut-job, and she'd only rung _twice_. No, she'd forget about him soon, and it seemed quite petty to tell Ziva and McGee that he thought he was being stalked. Well, maybe not stalked. More… idolized?

"Nothing," He answered in response to Ziva's question. "It's nothing."

~*~

The following day, Tony and McGee walked into the bullpen to see a man stood there that definitely _wasn't _Gibbs. Sharing a glance, they walked over, and stopped when he turned and gave them an odd grin.

"Who are you?" Tony asked. He knew he sounded slightly rude, but he couldn't help it. Something about this man just made him want to choke someone.

"I'm Daniel Morris. The inspector that will be overseeing Special Agent Gibbs' team. And you are?"

He knew he shouldn't. He knew these inspectors took things incredibly seriously. But he couldn't help it.

"I'm Dr Jekyll actually," He answered in a British accent, before motioning over to McGee. "And this is my friend, Mr Hyde." This coupled with the smirk on his face made Morris incredibly angry for some reason.

"I was warned about some of these agents working here," He snarled, more to himself than anything. "But to be so rude and insubordinate as to…"

"Daniel!" All three turned to see Vance stroll in. "I see you've met two of the agents you'll be working with while with us. I assume you've started to get to know each other?"

"Indeed," Morris said grimly. "Dr Jekyll, and Mr Hyde, wasn't it?" Tony looked down at the floor when Vance glared over, before the Director started to talk again.

"This is Special Agent Timothy McGee, and Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. They're on Gibbs' team."

"Indeed?" Morris said again. He nodded at Vance, who decided to take his leave as Gibbs rounded the corner.

Morri leant in so that his mouth was close to Tony's ear, and growled, "I'll be keeping my eye on you DiNozzo. One false step, and…"

Tony rolled his eyes and walked to his desk as Gibbs got there, "Hey, Boss." He greeted, and was granted a nod by his superior.

"Ah, Agent Gibbs!" Morris announced. "I'm Daniel Morris; I'll be observing your team."

"Is that so," Gibbs muttered, completely disinterested. "And how are we doing so far?"

Morris gave a tight grin before glancing over at Tony, "There are some kinks," He admitted. "But I'm sure you'll prove me wrong. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Human Resources."

Tony froze at those words. _That's _where he knew the crazy voice from! That woman he'd bumped into the other day! What was her name? Angelica? Angie? Angelique! That was it. He bit his lip. Should he go down there and say something to her?

"Something wrong, Agent DiNozzo?" Morris asked, seeing the young man freeze.

"Nope," He replied quickly. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks though, I hope we become great friends." He winked at Morris, and had to bite his lip to stop himself chuckling as the man glared at him before walking away.

Once he was gone, Tony slumped to his desk. This day just got worse and worse.

**Yup, the plot thickens. Or not. Though I had to get my M*A*S*H reference in there (Film, not series). If you get it, I'll send you a virtual puppy with a bag of cookies :) To be honest, that reference is the only reason the inspector's there *blushes*. I'll come up with a use for him, I promise ;) Review?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, thanks for the reviews :) I have major writer's block for my other stories, so I thought I'd just focus on this one for a while :)**

"Hey, Tony?"

Tony looked over dejectedly from where he was slumped down in his seat at his desk. Since the inspectors were there, and they didn't have any cases, Gibbs was making him stay in the bullpen ("Where I can see you.") until he got back from talking with the Director. McGee, noticing his friend's miserable face, spoke up.

"I don't mean to distract you from your… ponderings," He said slowly. "But there's a cute girl at about 12 o clock that keeps staring at you." He nodded over to her direction, and Tony's head shot up as if he was a hunting dog that had had a scent dragged over its nose.

It was Angelique. She gave a start when she saw he was looking at her and blushed heavily, deciding to get to the elevator as quickly as possible. He noticed the red converse she was wearing, and frowned. Why was she wearing them? It definitely wasn't adhering to dress code policy (Well, Abby didn't either, but he doubted Angelique had a scary boss to tell the Director off) and he was sure she should be working right now, so she shouldn't be clocking off just yet.

"I think she's smitten." McGee smirked as he too watched her disappear into the elevator.

"Get stuffed, Elf Lord." Tony muttered, looking back down at his desk. McGee looked surprised but didn't say anything else, instead deciding to text Abby - he knew she would be as bored as he was.

Tony glanced up again at where Angelique had been stood. Why was she stalking him? He shook his head as he thought this - he must just be paranoid. He only _thought _that voice had been hers; he hadn't really heard her speak at all. So he _might _have someone harassing him by calling him and insisting he loved them, but it might not be her. Probably wouldn't be her.

"Tony!" He looked over to see Abby waving frantically at him.

"What's up, Abbs?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.

"C'mere!" She insisted. "It's urgent!" Tony raised an eyebrow at McGee but got up, and followed her around the corner as she made exaggerated 'shushing' noises and flapped her hand in a signal of 'come closer'.

"Are you okay?" He asked, wondering what all the secrecy was about.

"Oh, I'm fine," She answered quickly. "But I want to know what you said to that inspector that's hanging around the team like a bad smell."

Tony chuckled at the image this conjured in his head and replied, "I don't know what you mean, Abbs. We had a perfectly pleasant conversation. Sure, we had our little… artistic differences, but I'm sure…"

"Tony, you didn't hear him," She whispered quickly. "He was ranting to another inspector just down the corridor from my lab - I know because I was about to go and see Ducky about the body of that petty officer who we thought was murdered, but had actually just killed himself, but I heard them talking - really loudly by the way, they're so ignorant sometimes of other people working…"

"Abbs," Tony interrupted. "Today would be nice."

"Right," She said, and continued. "Anyway, I heard him talking to another suit, and he said that he thought you were too cocky and juvenile to work here, and he'd try and put a stop to it using any means possible."

Tony laughed, "C'mon, Abbs, that's just talk. I really don't think he would get me fired…"

"Yeah but you're not a hundred percent sure!" She argued, jabbing him in the chest with her finger. "Will you please - _please _- just be a little more careful around them?" Tony looked at her desperate face and sighed. There was no way he would be able to say no to that. Instead, he took her hands and grinned winningly at her.

"Okay, Abbs," He conceded, "I promise. No more juvenile cockiness. I'll be as serious as Gibbs."

She gave him a look.

"Serious as McGee," He corrected, and ruffled her hair at the face she pulled. "Chill out, Abby. It'll be fine."

"No weird stuff?" She asked him, clutching to his hands.

"What - like being infected with plague? Or getting shot at, or being blow up, or…"

"Stop it, Tony. Just don't do anything stupid," She smiled slightly as she jokingly twisted his ear. "Got it?"

"Got it, cap'n." He replied, gently pulling his ear away from her grip and going back to his desk.

"Ah, Special Agent DiNozzo," He winced when he saw Morris sat there instead. "I was hoping we could have a chat. I've been having chats with everyone - individually of course - and I thought we could have ours now."

"Erm…"

He thought furiously, trying to think of ways he could get out of this, and heaved a deep sigh of relief when Vance called down, "Daniel! Would you like to come to my office? Everyone's in there, having some coffee. Are you interested?" Morris nodded and smiled up at the Director, and left without giving Tony a backwards glance.

He threw himself down at his seat with a sigh, "Phew… close call." He said dramatically.

"Yeah, it's okay for you," McGee muttered darkly from his seat. "He already had his 'chat' with me."

Tony winced sympathetically, "Ouch. How bad was it?"

"He wanted an exact number of times that I've shot someone, been shot, been in a life-threatening situation, felt that NCIS was being unfair to me… questions like that."

"I cannot wait to hear Tony's answers," Ziva said from where she'd suddenly managed to sneak in, unnoticed. "It will be pages long. You have been injured too many times."

"That's true," He replied. "But I can't wait to see how long the list gets when I mention every single head slap."

"Is that right, DiNozzo?"

Tony gulped as Gibbs' voice sounded from the side of him.

"Not at all, Boss. I would never rat you out." Gibbs rolled his eyes and went to sit at his desk. He grimaced when he realised he was out of coffee.

"I'm going for coffee."

"I'll get it!" He looked over at the over-enthusiastic voice. Tony leapt up from his seat and was already pulling on his jacket. Gibbs knew that Tony got severe cabin fever if they didn't have a case to work on, and also knew it would be better if his Senior Field Agent could get away from the inspectors for a while.

"Okay, DiNozzo," Gibbs answered. "Get everyone else some as well."

"I gotcha, Boss!" Tony grinned victoriously over at McGee, who tutted and turned back to sorting the files on his computer into alphabetical order.

~*~

"Now, this is the life." Tony sighed. He bought himself a coffee first, and sat outside with it, sipping slowly and enjoying the sights and sounds around the small park. He knew he was better off out here than in there, where Morris could fire questions at him about how bad his life was. He grinned into the cup when he went back over the conversation with Abby in his head. She worried too much. An inspector couldn't do anything to jeopardise his career with NCIS, and he wasn't as bad as she had made him out to be.

A slight rustle behind him brought him back to his senses. The business with Morris had made him forget about his possible stalker, but now his paranoia flared up and he turned around, looking through the bushes behind him. He couldn't see a thing, and knew he was just being stupid. He was flattering himself too much if anything. He didn't have a stalker. He just had some weird chick calling him and telling him he loved her.

Although that hadn't happened lately, he mused. He hadn't had any calls for about two hours - and the first two had been made within half an hour of each other.

He relaxed further onto the bench and started to sip again, before hearing what sounded like a camera shutter. This time he leapt up from the bench, ignoring the fact that he dropped the coffee cup on the ground and that it spilt out onto the floor.

Without even thinking what he must look like to anyone walking by, he made his way into the bushes. Using the trained eye of an investigator, he did a quick but thorough sweep of the area. He could see the footprints in the dirt where someone had been crouching, and the marks of what looked like a tripod. Who would set up a tripod to take pictures of someone from within some bushes?

He heard another rustle, and remembered that the photographer would have grabbed their camera and ran as soon as they heard him coming, and he took off through the bushes. He slowed to a halt as he saw a number of ways the person could have escaped. He cursed and realised there was no way he could catch them.

He crawled slowly out, ignoring the looks of passers by, and walked into the coffee shop near the park. He ordered the drinks that his team mates had asked for and took them, not making eye contact with the cashier who stared down at his muddy (And in some places ripped) clothes.

~*~

No one asked where he had been, or commented on how long he had taken. They all knew that a Tony who could get a bit more out of his system outside would annoy them less. So they simply accepted their coffees sedately and only saw his clothes as he walked away - presumably to the gym to get washed and changed.

"Tony? Something interesting happen on the way to get coffee?" McGee asked, looking him up and down. Even Gibbs looked curious, though he hid it by simply drinking his coffee and looking down at his computer screen.

"Nope."  
"Really?" Ziva joined in. "Not even a scuffle in the mud or a… a risk through the park?"

"What?" Tony asked, put off by what she said.

"Er, I think you mean 'gamble', Ziva," McGee told her. "Although you must mean 'gambol' as in, 'frolic', rather than the gamble that means…"

"Okay, McDictionary," Tony cut him off. "I didn't frolic through the park, I didn't scuffle in the mud and I didn't go gambling, okay? I simply crawled through some bushes because I thought someone was taking pictures of me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get changed."

No one said anything as he left, and simply shared bemused glances with each other at his excuse. It was a mark of how long they had spent around him/Abby that they thought nothing of it.

Nothing serious, anyway.

~*~

"Seriously, Probie - still not seen 'Sherlock Holmes' yet?" He pestered as they were on their way out from work. They still hadn't had a call and Gibbs just sent them home - seeing that cabin fever set in once again. "It's definitely Robert Downey Jr's best acting yet. Although 'Iron Man' was good too…" He mused.

"No, Tony," McGee said wearily. "I haven't seen 'Sherlock Holmes' yet. And I'm sure it is his best acting."

Tony gave him an odd glance, "What's wrong with you, McGoo? I'd have thought you'd love some tips on movies from one as educated as myself."

"I'm tired, Tony," He complained. "And all day I've had to put up with your incessant chatter about movies, sports and girls."

"'Incessant chatter?'" Tony questioned. "Who talks like that nowadays?"

They were in the parking garage by this point, and Tony was pulling out his keys.

"_I _do." McGee said.

"You know," Tony said, ignoring McGee's frustrated groan. "I think I'm being stalked."

"Really." McGee answered wearily, not really listening.

"Yeah…" Tony continued, ignoring the fact he didn't have a very captive audience. "I swear they were taking pictures of me from the bushes today. Seriously - I think it's the same person who was calling me today. And you've seen all those movies - or books," He added as McGee scowled at the mention of more movies, "about stalkers. They tend to get violent. What if I'm in for a beating?"

"I'm sure Ducky'll stitch you back up." McGee replied, looking for his keys.

"I bet you I can open my car from here." Tony suddenly said.

"I think I must have left them in the office…" McGee said to himself when he couldn't find his keys.

"No, look - I can," Tony insisted, pointing his keys at his car. He pressed the unlock button but nothing happened. "Okay," He continued, moving closer. "Now I can - definitely."

McGee had started to walk back at this point, but heard the unlocking of a car door and Tony's exuberant whoop of victory - just before the explosion.

He gasped and turned around to see a smouldering wreck, and several cars on either side of the mustang setting fire because of the original explosion.

"Tony!!"

**Hmmm, oh dear. What will happen? Guess you'll just have to review to find out ;) Lol, writing this today, all I could think of were the inspectors at our college. They all look really serious, with briefcases (That probably don't contain anything anyway) and moustaches. Silly people - they all ask pointless questions D:**

**Anywho... Review? Xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**So, my computer's ill lol. It's got a bad virus, and I'm trying to write this on my dad's pc while he's out - so it'll be a slow and painful process lol. Ah well :) Thanks for the review ;)**

"Tony!!" McGee covered his face as another explosion sounded. He was thrown to the floor and winded for a second, before pulling himself to his feet. He ran towards the line of cars - regardless of the dangers - and shielded his eyes against the flames. Again he called out his friend's name and again was given no answer. In his desperation, he thrust his arms into Tony's car, before being pulled back by an unseen person.

"You want to get yourself killed, McGee?!" He turned and saw Gibbs, looking the angriest that McGee had ever seen him.

"Boss!" He exclaimed. "It was Tony's car! As soon as it was unlocked it exploded!" Gibbs looked over at the row of cars now on fire, his face aghast.

"Go call an ambulance and the fire department!" Gibbs yelled at him, pushing him out of the garage.

"But, Boss! Tony..." McGee tried to tell him that he needed to stay here - what if Tony was badly hurt?

"I'll get him." Gibbs promised, and pushed the younger agent towards the doors.

When he was gone, Gibbs pulled his jacket off and pulled it over himself. It would have helped if he had wet it first, but with nothing to wet it with, he had to make do. He started towards the car he knew to be Tony's. He'd been about to go to the NCIS gym (Anything to get away from the inspector) and had heard an explosion. Throwing himself to the ground out of habit, he soon realised it had been below him. So he ran towards the garage, and sure enough saw flames - and McGee about to leap into them. Of course, he hadn't any idea that his senior agent was trapped inside them.

"Tony?" He called out, weaving around the flames. "DiNozzo! You hear me?" Amazingly, he heard a small sound. "Tony!" He bawled again.

"Over... over here... B-Boss..." He whirled around and saw that Tony had managed to dive behind a pillar. His relief was short-lived when he saw a flaming piece of car had landed heavily on Tony's shoulder and chest - making it impossible for him to get out on his own.

"You might... might wanna h-hurry, Bo-Boss..." He wheezed. "I don't know... how long it'll... be b-before it... sets off another... ex-explosion..."

"Let me worry about that, DiNozzo," Gibbs said calmly, assessing where exactly he could pick the piece of car up from. "You just concentrate on breathing and not passing out on me."

"Di-DiNozzo's do not... pass out..." Tony panted, trying to give him a stern look.

"Right," Gibbs agreed. "So don't do it." He grabbed the side of the car piece and tugged at it, managing to lift it far enough off Tony's chest to let him breathe easier.

"Wow, world's... strongest m-man, huh?"

"Be quiet, DiNozzo," Gibbs said gently. "I need to think." He looked around. If he could heave this piece off Tony, he would be able to pull his agent further away from the fire. He didn't want to move him too far in case he had any internal injuries, but he knew all too well that more cars could go up once the flames jumped to the gas tanks.

"Tony," He panted, the weight of the piece gaining with every second. "I need you to try and wiggle away when I lift this fully. Can you do that?"

Tony looked down at himself and seemed to grit his teeth before nodding, "Do it, Boss... b-before I ch-change my... mind."

"Did I say you had a choice?" Gibbs groaned as he lifted the car piece off Tony. He didn't say anything, but knew that Tony would try to move as soon as it was lifted. Sure enough, he heard the hiss of pain and felt Tony moving further away from him. When he was sure Tony had backed himself up against the wall, he set it down again, his muscles screaming in protest.

"You... a-alright, Boss?" Tony asked, clutching at his shoulder with his left hand. "That was... p-pretty h-heavy..."

"Ya think, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, standing up and shuffling over to Tony. "We need to get out of here." He said.

"Don't n-need to t-tell me... twice, Boss." Tony groaned.

Gibbs rolled his eyes, "You hurt anywhere apart from the obvious?"

"M'not sure, Boss," He wheezed. "I p-probably h-hit my head... when I got... th-thrown down... Is McGee o-okay?"

"Let's focus on you," Gibbs ordered. "Think you can walk out of here?"

"'Course I... can, Boss," Tony said. "I'm just... feeling l-lazy."

"Of course you are," Gibbs replied, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, Tony - we _need _to get out of here in case another one goes."

Tony nodded urgently - before flopping down and passing out.

"Don't do this to me, DiNozzo!" Gibbs yelled at him, pulling him up. "Think of what McGee or Ziva'll say when I carry you out of here!" When that did nothing he pulled Tony into his arms, bridal-style, and carried him out.

~*~

"Through that door is probably best," McGee directed the firemen. "But be careful, we don't know if there are more bombs or not." Just as he said this, the doors to the garage opened and Gibbs stumbled out - an unconscious Tony in his arms.

"Boss!" McGee yelped. "Is Tony...?"

"He's unconscious, McGee," Gibbs told him. "Where's that damn ambulance?"

"Right here." Gibbs looked over and saw Ducky stood in front of an ambulance. "When McGee told me what happened, I made sure I was ready to come as well - I know more of his medical information than his hospital records do."

Gibbs nodded and put Tony on a stretcher the paramedics brought round, "Are you coming, Sir?" One of them asked.

Gibbs seemed to be fighting with himself, before answering, "Ducky, you go with him. I need to stay here and find out what happened." The M.E nodded and got into the ambulance.

"McGee." Gibbs growled.

"Ah, I obviously didn't get a good look at it, but it definitely went off when he unlocked his door."

"The burns on his face and hands were superficial," Gibbs said. "He wasn't near his car."

"He used the button on his keys," McGee told him. "From quite far away - he bet me he could open his car from there."

Gibbs shook his head, "Then what?"

"Well, I had turned around to go back to the office - I left my car keys in there - and I heard Tony shout that he'd unlocked his car. As soon as he shouted the bomb went off, so I'm pretty sure it _was _the locks it was wired to."

"Get Abby to analyse it when they've put it out," Gibbs said, before continuing. "So you didn't see what happened to him after the bomb went off?"

McGee shook his head, "I turned around as soon as I heard the explosion. Then there was another one and I covered my face. After that I couldn't see him."

"Okay," Gibbs said. "Good work, McGee." With that he walked off - presumably to see Abby.

"McGee, are you okay?" He turned to see Ziva hurrying towards him. She had heard the explosions, but had only just managed to arrive from the other side of the building.

"Yeah, Ziva, I'm fine," He smiled at her and said, "Who would strap a bomb to Tony's car?"

"Tony's car?" She repeated faintly. "I was not aware that Tony was the target. Is he alright?"

"He'll be fine, Ziva," He comforted her. "He collapsed, but Gibbs is still here - if it was that bad he'd have gone to the hospital with him. Ducky went instead."

Ziva nodded and tried to focus, "So, what happened?"

"The bomb seemed to go off when the car was unlocked," McGee told her. "I was about to run for Tony, but Gibbs came in and told me to get an ambulance and call the fire department. That's about it. But someone definitely put the bomb on _his _car."

"Who would do that?" She asked, puzzled.

McGee smiled faintly, "Pick a girl, Ziva, any girl." He mirrored the words he remembered Kate saying when Tony couldn't believe someone had sent him an envelope full of disease. He was about to say something else, before Ziva put a hand on his arm,

"McGee," She started, "didn't he say that he thought he was being stalked?"

McGee thought back and nodded, "Yeah, he said he thought someone had taken a photo of him from in the bushes. But he does like to be the centre of attention. He could easily have imagined it."

"I suppose," Ziva agreed. "But we should investigate it anyway."

"I think we should wait until he gets back from hospital," McGee said. "There's no point following up something that probably isn't real."

~*~

"What've you got, Abbs?" Gibbs asked, handing her her usual Caf-Pow.

"Nothing until you tell me where this from." She told him, gesturing towards the burned out bits of car lying on her table. All that had happened was Gibbs coming in and telling her she needed to find out who put the bomb on a car that had recently exploded. She hadn't heard the explosion, even though she was just one floor above it, because her music was turned up to full volume, and she had happened to have been jumping around in a circle (Don't ask) at the time, and hadn't felt it either.

"Abbs." Gibbs said in his warning voice.

Abby sighed, "Fine," She huffed. "Even though I don't want to say this because I want to be kept in the loop - since I _always _keep you in the loop - _even _when I'm told not to..."

"Okay, Abby," Gibbs said. "I'm still _not _going to tell you that this bomb was attached to a car in the NCIS garage, and I'm also _not _going to tell you it was DiNozzo's. Happy?"

"Gibbs! Why didn't you tell me?!" She wailed. "Is he okay? He's been in _way _too many car bomb incidents! You should put a harness on him or something!"

"Believe me, Abbs," He told her. "That thought has crossed my mind a lot over the past few years. Now - what've you got?"

She huffed but started, "I've managed to pull a partial off the main body of the bomb - not enough for a match, but I also managed to find one on the bottom of the rear door. Now - since I _now _know it's Tony's, I can say that it wouldn't have been him, since he... well, why would he reach down there? I _also _know he'd been bragging about having the car polished and scrubbed today, and it was freshly cleaned - so it could be someone at a garage, but it would have been placed there whilst in the NCIS garage, since he would have felt it when he picked it up from the other garage."

"He would have felt it?"

"In his gut, Gibbs!" She insisted. "He's a good investigator, he would have known."

"He didn't know when he unlocked it just now." Gibbs growled at her.

"_That's _because he's slightly high right now."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"He didn't tell you?" She asked, biting her lip. "He hurt his ankle sparring in the gym this morning - that inspector really puts you off - and Ducky made him take some painkillers. Only low grade ones, so he wouldn't act how he would with higher doses, but enough so that his reaction time is slightly off... He really didn't tell you?"

"Is this the face of a man who looks as if he knew that, Abby?" He asked her.

"The good news is, I can agree with McGee that it was attached to the locks - and it wasn't a pro job. It was rigged for a much bigger explosion than the one that did happen, so they couldn't have configured it right. I bet I could make a better bomb than this. Can I go see Tony?" She asked.

"He'll be back soon," Gibbs muttered distractedly, glancing around at the junk on Abby's table. "You can see him then."

She stamped her foot and pouted at him, but nodded and asked, "Do you have any idea who would do this?"

"Nope," He replied simply, and walked out. "Good work, Abbs."

~*~

"Agent Gibbs!" He looked around in his way to the bullpen and groaned. Hurrying towards him was the inspector, Morris. "Agent Gibbs," He repeated upon getting closer. "I heard about the incident."

"Incident was it?" Gibbs asked. "I'd call it an attempted murder."

"Yes, how is Agent DiNozzo?"

"He'll live," Gibbs growled. "Is that all?"

"Do you think this was done by someone inside the building?" He persisted.

"What are you, a journalist? I don't know right now. Let me do my job and we'll find out." With that he stalked off.

~*~

In Tony's pocket at the hospital, his phone started to ring. He couldn't hear it over the hustle and bustle throughout the room and so didn't notice it stop or hear it as someone left a message;

_"I didn't want to do this, Tony. But you're being obnoxious now - you're leaving me clues that mean something, before completely denying our love. I hope that we can meet again in heaven - God's love knows no bounds, and he will know I did it for the right reasons..."_

**Creepy ;) Okay, so - I know nothing about bombs lol, and don't particularly want to, so ignore anything about it ;) Also, the person calling the phone - they are crazy, remember, so they would think that if he had died in the explosion, of course the phone would still work XD**

**Review? Xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Heya :) Thanks for all the reviews, they really brighten my day ^_^ And, I turned my pc on and suddenly the virus had disappeared lol, which is slightly weird, but hey ;)**

Tony wearily walked into the elevator, wincing as he accidently hit his elbow off the door, which in turn led to pain shooting up his arm - including his broken collarbone.

"I think we should start wrapping you up in bubble wrap," Abby told him good-naturedly. "You might get broken less."

"Thanks for that, Abbs," he smiled. "Good to know someone cares." She smiled back at him before stabbing at the button for their floor.

"Did that button wrong you in some way, Abby?" He asked as he watched her.

"I'm in a rush," she explained. "I need to get back to start looking at that car bomb. I only picked you up 'cause no-one else would."

"Says a lot, doesn't it?" Tony grumbled, staring at the ceiling.

"Don't be such a baby," she chastised. "They're all _really _busy. McGee's looking over security tape footage, Ziva's gone to the garage you had your car washed at, and Gibbs is stuck with Ducky, both trying to compile a list of who might have it in for you."

"Infamy, infamy! They've all got it in for me!" Tony wailed, before grinning over at Abby. "You know you want to…" He teased.

She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking. "One of the 'Carry On' films!" She announced victoriously. Tony had made her watch fifteen films out of 31 from the British comedy. "'Carry On…Screaming'?"

He shook his head. "'Carry On Cleo'. One of the best in my opinion, the old ones were the good ones, particularly…"

"Tony," she interrupted, knowing what she was going to say would make him stop talking. "I need to go give Gibbs a sit-rep of how you are."

"What?" he asked, confused. "Can't I tell him myself?"

"No," she said firmly. "If you had your way it would be a slightly sprained collarbone and you don't need to rest it or take pain meds for it. You also wouldn't tell him the doctors still aren't sure about the smoke damage to your lungs and that you need to take medication for that. I'm telling him what's wrong."

"Fine," he huffed as the doors opened. "But you're also telling him that the inspector wants to know exactly what happened." He nodded over to where Morris was trying hard to seem invisible, whilst trying to discern how much damage the agent had suffered.

"C'mon." Abby said, taking his non-injured right hand and hauling him over to Gibbs' desk, who was watching them expectantly.

"Is that what remains of my car?" Tony whimpered, pointing over to the photos of charred metal he had on the desk.

"'Fraid so," Gibbs said - not sounding too sorry about it. He looked over at Abby. "Well?" He said expectantly.

"Broken collarbone which he has to rest and take pain meds for," she said instantly. "And he may have some smoke damage to his weak, fragile, scarred…" She continued adding adjectives to annoy Tony, before finally saying, "…lungs, so he needs to take meds for that as well. He _has _been cleared to work though." She added, smiling at Tony as though this made everything better.

"Thanks, Abbs," Gibbs said, nodding at her. "You can go back to work now." She grinned and walked off, after patting Tony's (Non-injured) shoulder.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stay at the hospital and bring you back, my boy," Ducky apologised. "I was needed back here for some of my psychological profiling you agents seem to think I have a PhD in."

"It's okay, Duck," Tony smiled. "I got here eventually."

The M.E smiled at him and said, "Well, I'll just make myself scarce while you have your talk. I'll come back later, Jethro." He nodded at Gibbs and then left.

"Sit," Gibbs said, nodding towards a chair in front of his desk. "Talk."

Tony sat down and winced slightly at the movement to his shoulder.

"Hey, Boss, can I…?"

"In a bit, Tony," Gibbs said, his voice becoming slightly softer as he knew this sounded incredibly mean. "Take some painkillers later - we need you thinking clearly for this."

Tony nodded, not bothering to even wonder how Gibbs knew this was what he was going to ask for. Without being asked, he dived straight into it.

"Me and Bobby McGee…" He paused, wondering if Gibbs knew what he was on about. Seeing the glare, he continued. "We were walking into the garage, and I bet him I could open my car from far away. I managed it, and… Bang."

"Need a bit more detail, DiNozzo." Gibbs told him.

"Best I can do, Boss, I hit my head when it happened."

"Just try. What did you do as soon as you heard the explosion?"

Tony grinned. "Saw it first, Boss," he said. "When I saw it I dived behind a column. Soon as I hit the deck I heard McGee shout, but a piece of car hit me and I got a bit winded."

"That was the one I lifted off you." Gibbs said, waiting for an affirmative.

However, Tony looked down sheepishly and replied, "Ah… no, Boss. I got pinned by this piece, but managed to get it off. It was only after another one that I realised I couldn't get this one off. The first one must have hit me harder than I thought."

"McGee said you thought someone was stalking you." Gibbs told him, watching closely to see his reaction.

"Did I?" He asked, sounding quite dazed. "I must have. I guess I did…"

"What makes you think that?" Gibbs asked.

"I got a few calls today from some woman. She kept saying how I was denying our love, or something. Then I _swear _I heard someone taking photos of me today when I went to get the coffee. That's why I was so muddy. I went through the bushes. There'd definitely been a tripod there. I'm sure of it."

"You had any more calls from this woman?" Gibbs asked. Tony had sounded so serious, and he believed him more than he _didn't _believe him, but a few calls and thinking there was a tripod behind him…

"I don't know," Tony replied warily. "I haven't had the guts to check my phone from the hospital. D'you think whoever did this left a message? They wouldn't be that stupid, would they?"

Gibbs shrugged, "If you think they're stalking you, they'll probably be insane."

"Is that a hint to the fact that no one in their right mind would ever want to stalk me?"

Gibbs gave him a _look _and he grinned sheepishly before pulling his phone out of his pocket. Gibbs instantly knew someone had called when he saw Tony's face pale and look back into his boss's eyes, his own green ones wide.

"I've got a message from a withheld number." He said, and was about to pass it over, before thinking better of it. He pressed a few buttons himself, and before Gibbs knew it, he was hearing the message that Tony had put on loudspeaker.

_"I didn't want to do this, Tony. But you're being obnoxious now - you're leaving me clues that mean something, before completely denying our love. I hope that we can meet again in heaven - God's love knows no bounds, and he will know I did it for the right reasons..."_

Tony gazed at Gibbs, looking slightly worried. "Guess we found who did it."

"Yeah," he answered. "Yeah, sure looks that way." He leaned back in his chair, as he had seen DiNozzo do so many times before, and thought hard.

"Take that down to Abby," he told Tony. "Get it analysed, and get McGee to see if he can't trace it or something."

"On it, Boss." Tony replied instantly.

He was halfway out of the bullpen before Gibbs said, "And, Tony?" The younger agent turned around and raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Take your damn pain meds."

Tony gave the ghost of a smile, "On it."

~*~

Ziva arrived back in the bullpen to see Gibbs and Ducky in deep discussion.

"Did he not say who he thought it might be?"

"I didn't pressure him; he was too pre-occupied with the message they left. He's freaked out, Duck."

"Who would not be?" Ducky replied darkly, before seeing Ziva, and standing. "Hello, my girl. How was the garage?"

Ziva put her bag down at her desk before answering, "They all seemed very distraught at what happened. One of them described Tony's car as 'sex on wheels' and another seemed very excited at being allowed to polish it. Why men have these fascinations with cars, I will never understand."

"Did you get a time frame?" Gibbs pushed.

"Yes," she nodded. "At half past six this morning Tony dropped the car off before going to get some coffee."

"Half six?" Gibbs questioned.

"He pays well for his car, they say they are more than happy to have it in whenever he wishes," she replied, before continuing. "They washed, waxed and polished it and it was ready to go at eight. They say Tony was there to watch - apparently he does not trust others with it. However, he did leave to get coffee, as I said.

"Gibbs, I do not think it was them," she told him. "None of them seem very bright, and although Abby said the bomb was not perfect, I doubt any of them could have made one. And if they placed it when Tony went to get his coffee, Abby should find soap or wax residue on it, should she not?"

Gibbs nodded, "That's good work, Ziva." He complimented.

"Do we still have no idea who it was?" She asked, looking concerned.

"Tony thinks he's being stalked," he informed her. "Abby and McGee should be on it."

Just then, they both heard a loud, angry voice round the corner and burst into the bullpen.

"Oh would you look at that, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to let you go, I'm going through a tunnel!" Tony practically shrieked these last words as if the 'tunnel' was swallowing him, and closed the phone, turning to face everyone.

"Wasn't that unnecessarily loud?" Ziva asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Abby said she can't trace that call until she gets McGee back from security." Tony told Gibbs, not noticing everyone wince as his voice had gotten louder for no particular reason.

"Why are you yelling at us?" Ziva asked. Tony simply shrugged.

"Who was on the phone?" Gibbs asked, but again Tony didn't answer. Instead he walked over to his desk and sat down, rootling through the drawers until he found a comb and started to run one of his fingers down the teeth, making a small, annoying sound with it.

Ziva looked over at Gibbs and Ducky, hoping they were as concerned as she was, but they simply shook their heads at each other and said, in tandem, "Painkillers."

"Ah, Agent DiNozzo," everyone except Tony looked up when they saw Inspector Morris stood there. "Got through the tunnel, did you?"

"Excuse me." Ducky said to them all, walking away before starting to chuckle to himself.

"Can we help you?" Gibbs asked, as politely as he could.

"I just thought I'd have my interview with Agent DiNozzo now, Agent Gibbs," he informed them. "Just to get his opinions on what happened."

"Agent DiNozzo…" Gibbs began.

"Yeah, Boss!" Tony piped up, glancing over.

"Ziva, take him somewhere else," he told the mossad officer, before continuing. "As I was saying; Agent DiNozzo is in no state to discuss anything with you right now. He's just been involved in an explosion, and is having a reaction to the pain meds he was given. You can talk to him later."

The inspector sighed, but knew he was beaten at this point, "I'll come back another time." He muttered, and walked away - presumably to go and annoy someone else.

Gibbs was about to sink into his chair before getting a call from Abby.

"Yeah, Abbs," he answered, before nodding and saying. "I'm on my way."

**Yep, it's one of those chapters where nothing happens :| Don't worry, I'll make sure loads of really interesting things happen in the next one :D**

**Oh and, the Carry On films… I don't know, they were probably shown in the US at some stage, but Tony's mum was British, wasn't she? I've decided that's where he found them. They are good though - well, the early ones were :)**

**Review? Xxx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hiya :) So, I still have writers block for my other stories - you're stuck with this one for a while ;) Oh, and there's a reference to one of my other stories in here. You don't need to have read it (But I might cry if you haven't :P) ;)**

"What you got for me, Abbs?" Gibbs asked, strolling into the lab.

"After spending _ages _waiting for you, Gibbs, you're getting slower you know - I was hoping you'd walk in when I got something, nearly ten minutes ago!"

"Would this make it better?" He asked, shaking a Caf-Pow in front of her.

Her eyes lit up and she grabbed it, before saying, "Anyway - it wasn't put on when it was at the garage, Gibbs, there isn't any soap or wax or anything that would have gotten on it."

"That's it?" Gibbs growled, angry at having come down there for nothing.

"Gibbs! Did I say I was done?" Abby asked, sounding hurt. "Well… I am - but McGee has something."

Gibbs turned to the young agent, who nodded and said, "I was going through all the CCTV footage in the garage from today, and found this…"

He pressed a button and the screen on the wall suddenly burst into life. Gibbs realised he was looking at Tony's car, and a figure crept towards the car, looked around for a second, and then strapped something to the car.

"Can you zoom in on them?" Gibbs demanded rather than asked.

"I tried, and Abby's already running it through a programme that'll enhance it; so if it works we can run the face and see if we get a hit."

"That's all I get?" Gibbs asked, glancing around them all, exasperated.

"Er, I got the number of the person who keeps calling Tony," McGee said. "It's a cell phone, and last time I traced it, it was moving through the city - whoever she is, she's travelling in a car somewhere."

"Gibbs," they all looked over to see that Ziva had walked in. "I did as you asked - I sent Tony home, he had nothing to do here and since he was… how he was, I thought it was best."

Gibbs nodded, "McGee, where is she now?"

McGee started to type at the keyboard as Abby called the phone. When a woman answered McGee typed faster and no sooner had she hung up, that McGee got her location.

"Got it, Boss - she's at…" He tailed off, paling slightly. "Boss - she's outside Tony's apartment…"

~*~

"Come on, DiNozzo - answer your goddamn phone!" Gibbs muttered as he flew through the streets in the sedan. McGee and Ziva were clutching at their seatbelts as they swerved round another corner.

"McGee - try DiNozzo again!" Gibbs ordered, and growled when the younger agent told him that Tony still wasn't answering. The car came to a screeching halt and Gibbs got out of the car, glancing left and right; trying to find someone sat outside in a car. When he saw no one he became even more cautious, and ran up the stairs to Tony's flat.

Approaching the door, he quickly managed to pick the lock and went in, his gun out and his back-up close behind him. He cocked a head to the door that led to the bathroom when they saw the main room was all clear. Ziva stealthily crept up and opened it, nodding at Gibbs the all-clear. He and McGee both went towards the door that went to the bedroom and, with a slight nod; Gibbs opened it, crashing through.

"Wha'?!" Tony leapt up from where he had been asleep on his bed. "Boss?" He croaked, looking around blearily. "What happened?"

"You hear anyone trying to get in, DiNozzo?" He asked, looking through the blinds and out the window that faced the street.

"No…" Tony said slowly. "Why? What's this about?"

"We traced the cell that was calling you - it was opposite the street."

Tony paled and stuttered, "Did you catch them? The… the stalker?"

"If I had, do you really think I would have crashed through the door, DiNozzo?"

"Well, you _do_ do that a lot, Boss," he answered. "Remember my first week? I broke my phone and you thought you'd pay me a visit at five thirty in the morning to see why I wasn't answering? I still haven't papered over that bullet hole." Tony mourned, nodding towards a hole in the wall that was a result off a door being thrown open and his gun being on the table beside him.

"I've never seen such a bad aim." Gibbs quipped, still having small glances around to check for anything suspicious.

"Hey; if I'd had a good aim, you'd be dead right now - so really you should've thanked me rather than made me go out onto that stupid range every morning - even when it was snowing." Tony looked appalled at the memory, but swung his legs around and stood up, revealing a creased shirt that he had been wearing that day and obviously hadn't been bothered about changing, and a pair of boxers.

"What are you doing, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked; raising an eyebrow as Tony tried to change his shirt, all the while hissing whenever he moved his broken collar bone.

"I'm coming back in, Boss," he answered, as if it was obvious. "I'm fine, and it'll decrease the chances of you breaking my door down every time I fall asleep."

Gibbs shrugged, and was about to move into the main room when Tony said, "Hey, Boss - will you just, erm…"

"Spit it out, Tony."

"Ah… it's kind of… impossible - to get dressed. I'd ask one of the others but Ziva would probably accidently kill me somehow and I don't trust McGee when it comes to my clothes." He grinned at Gibbs, trying to turn it into a joke rather than a cry for help.

"Which shirt do you want?" Gibbs asked, opening a wardrobe.

"Any, doesn't really matter - I'm just going to have some black pants on anyway."

"You want the door closed?" Gibbs asked, stood in front of the door, one hand on it as he looked at his Senior Agent quizzically.

"Nah. Better leave it open, Boss - I don't want gossip of what went on behind this door if it was closed."

~*~

"Tony - do you have any idea who this might be?" Gibbs asked, as they stood around the plasma in the bullpen. They all stared at the person by his car, trying to discern a face from the mass of black of the dark garage.

"I don't think so, Boss," he replied, frowning. "It _could _be a woman… I mean, that phone call I got - it's probably a woman, isn't it?"

"More than likely, but…"

"I should never assume, I know."

"Do we know who that phone number belongs to?" Gibbs asked McGee.

"It says in the records that her name is Irene Adler." McGee scoffed, and they all looked over at Tony as he gasped slightly.

"You know this person, Tony?" Ziva asked.

"No, Ziva - it's a character in 'Sherlock Holmes' and I think she was in the books like, once. Anyway - one of the calls I got, she started saying something about how I was like her own Sherlock Holmes, and she was my Irene… I think she's really lost it."

"Come on, DiNozzo - think! Did you recognise the voice at all?" Gibbs pushed.

"Well… no, I… no."

"Tony." Gibbs warned.

"Well, it sounded a bit like this girl I bumped into yesterday. It was just before you told us about the inspectors, Boss. She started looking at me for a while, and I didn't think anything of it, I mean - who wouldn't want to look at me a while?" He joked.

"How long did you talk to her for?" Gibbs demanded. "And what was her name?"

"Er, only a minute maybe, and I think her name was Angelique. Yeah, that was her name. I think she works in Human Resources."

"Here? You think the person who did this worked _here _and you didn't bother to mention that?" Gibbs yelled.

"Come on, Boss - like I said, I only _think_ it was her. And she didn't seem the type to place a bomb under my car."

"McGee." Gibbs said, clicking his fingers.

"I'm going over the list of employees in HR." McGee told him.

"Ziva, go down and help Abby with these tapes - I want to see this bitch's face. DiNozzo."

"Yeah, Boss?"

Gibbs smirked and said, "I think you should go have your interview now."

"What?" Tony replied, his face blank. "What inter…"

"Agent DiNozzo!" A happy voice trilled behind him. "I see you're free and perfectly fine to talk to me now!"

Tony looked over at Gibbs with a 'please-don't-do-this-to-me-you-know-you-love-me-really' face and was given nothing but a slight quirk of his mouth and, "He's all yours, Inspector Morris."

~*~

"So, Agent DiNozzo - please, take a seat."

Tony did so, but then had to ask, "Why are we doing this in interrogation?"

Morris simply smiled at him and answered, "So, how long have you been working here?"

"6 years this August." Tony said promptly.

"6?" Morris repeated (And Tony had to force himself not to do a Gibbs style 'Did I stutter?'). "Isn't that a tad longer than any of the other places you've stayed at?"

"Were you allowed to read through my notes?" Tony asked coolly. "Or did you decide to just sneak down and have a look?"

"And I see that you've sustained quite a few more injuries here than at your other jobs?"

"Well I have stayed here 'a tad longer' than anywhere else," Tony mocked. "I've had more time to be injured here."

"Is that so?" He questioned. "And at Baltimore - were you in any danger of contracting the plague?"

Tony simply glared at him.

"I'd say it's rather dangerous of you to be working here."

"Hey, if it was 'rather dangerous' for me to be working here, lots of good people could have been killed," Tony ranted. "If Detective Mills in 'Seven' had decided to move somewhere else because he thought it was 'too dangerous' - they wouldn't have found their killer. If Johnny in 'The Dead Zone' had thought it was too dangerous, then the President may have been a psychotic killer. If…"

"I see you're fond of movies," Morris said, looking down at the file in front of him. "Let me ask you - have you seen the new one that's come out? 'Shutter Island'?"

"Not yet," Tony said uneasily. "DiCaprio, right?"

"Very entertaining," Morris told him, leaning back in his chair. "Cop goes to a mental asylum, starts to slowly go insane," a muscle started to twitch on Tony's face, and his carefully put his hands under the table so that he wouldn't punch the man sat opposite him. "Can you imagine it?" He continued, smiling at Tony. "I assume the character is very weak-willed - I mean, what sort of a cop would he have been to have been affected by that? He must have had some sort of problem… maybe it's one of the psychology things - his parents didn't love him or something…"

He didn't get any further when Tony launched himself across the desk and punched the inspector in the face. Even though he'd only used one hand (And his broken collar bone hurt like hell), he'd put all of his force behind it, and Morris had been knocked out.

Too angry to realise how bad this was, he simply stormed out of the room, leaving the man in there on the floor and bleeding copiously from his mouth. He walked through the corridors, glaring at anyone and everything.

"Tony? Interview finished…" Ziva started to question, before he stalked right past her and over to the elevator, "…already?" She finished, gazing at him in confusion.

"I'm getting coffee." He growled; rivalling Gibbs as he said that, and was very soon out of sight as the doors closed.

Ziva sat herself down at her desk, her face awash with curiosity and worry. What would have caused Tony to come out of there, growling like a wounded dog?

"Where's Tony?" Ziva looked up to see an incredibly nervous Abby, bouncing about on the balls of her feet and her hands in front of her mouth in worry.

"He just walked out," Ziva answered. "Why? What happened?"

"I was just walking through that corridor, past interrogation," she told the mossad officer, "and I heard Ducky in there. Now, usually I wouldn't go in, but I knew we didn't have anyone in there, and that Ducky wouldn't usually be in there anyway, so I looked in, and…"

"Abby," Ziva stopped her. "Breathe."

Abby took a deep breath and continued, "And that inspector was in there, lying on the floor, while Ducky was cleaning some blood off his mouth. He was mumbling 'DiNozzo' over and over - so it must have been Tony!"

"Why would he suddenly attack an inspector?" Ziva asked. "It makes no sense."

"What makes no sense?" They both turned to see Gibbs stood behind them, a wary look on his face.

"Gibbs! Er…"

Abby stuttered, flustered, before Ziva came in with her no-nonsense way, "Tony attacked the inspector, and Ducky is in there with him."

There was silence in the bullpen for a second, before Gibbs said, quietly, "_What?_"

"But we know there has to be a reason," Abby hastily defended. "Tony wouldn't attack him for nothing - I bet that stupid man pushed his buttons."

"It must have been something bad," McGee chipped in, from where he'd been sat quietly at his desk (He'd just had a call from Ducky). "Tony only had one good hand, and from what I just heard from Ducky, the guy was knocked out."

"Gibbs?" Abby said quietly.

The special agent looked at them all for a moment before saying, "Anyone see where DiNozzo went?"

"He went down in the elevator about five minutes ago," Ziva informed him. "He said he was going for coffee."

"McGee, track his cell and call me when you find him." Gibbs said, before grabbing his gun and leaving.

~*~

To say that Tony was angry was an understatement. He was livid. Anyone who talked to him right now would probably get exactly what Morris did. He knew this, so he decided to walk down some back alleys, and try and get his head on straight.

He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts, he didn't even hear the light footsteps behind him, or feel the person right behind him until a cloth heavily laden with chloroform was wrapped around his mouth and nose.

"Don't worry, my love - everything will be alright now."

And then he passed out.

**I saw the trailer for Shutter Island like, 2 weeks ago - and **_**had **_**to get a reference in somewhere ;) Anywho - review? Xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Not as long as the last one, but I thought I owed you all a chapter, so I decided to write this and put off my history essays another day or two ^_^**

Growling to himself, Gibbs left the building. Through the seething in his mind he tried to think straight - _where would DiNozzo go to cool off?_

He made a sharp turn when he got to the crowded streets. Even when angry, Tony wouldn't want anyone to see him as he was. He would keep that mask permanently on his face. With this in mind, Gibbs went down some back alleys. Wrinkling his nose at the smell, he shook his head when he heard what sounded like a fight breaking out in an alley near his own.

"I said, leave him alone!!" Gibbs' head pricked up at that. It sounded so familiar…

Deciding to follow the sounds - he could tell it was now breaking into a struggle - he came across one woman kicking, slapping - doing anything, to get another woman away. The woman looked to be trying to tug a lifeless body away; it was almost as if she couldn't see or feel the other woman kicking her.

"Hey!" Gibbs decided to intervene - cat fight or not, that woman could have possibly just murdered someone. "Federal Agent! Freeze!"

The first woman looked up, relief flowing through her, "Agent Gibbs!" She cried out. "Stop her!"

And then Gibbs realised where he knew that voice from. It was one of Tony's neighbours. He'd met her one of the many times he needed someone to be on concussion watch when he - or any of the team - wasn't available. What was her name again? It began with a 'T' was all he could remember.

A new realisation hit him like a jolt of lightning - the body lying on the floor, being dragged along the ground - was Tony's.

He flung forward, and had soon pulled the woman off. She stared at him with wide eyes, as if just realising what she had done; before tearing off down the alley and round the street, before disappearing from sight.

Usually Gibbs would have gone after her - but he'd gotten a good look at her; and Tony still hadn't come round from whatever had happened to have caused him to lose consciousness.

"Oh my God, Agent Gibbs - thank goodness you're here! I don't know what would have happened - it was like she was possessed or something! She just kept pulling him away, I…" She started to cry, the sobs wracking her body as she fell to her knees.

Gibbs patted her shoulder sympathetically, "I know you two are close," he told her. "And I seem to have forgotten your name."

She smiled at him, "Terri," she told him. "Terri Conllyn. I'd just popped out to get something during my lunch break," she continued, glancing at Gibbs as he every so often checked his agent's pulse, "and I saw something - just out the corner of my eye. I turned and saw it was Tony, and I thought I'd go say hi, but then he went down this alley - which was, y'know, pretty strange. Anyway; then I saw that woman following him and then she just suddenly whipped this tissue out from her bag and stuck it over his face - it must have been chloroform or something."

Gibbs nodded at her, "Thanks, Terri. Go to the Navy Yard and tell security I sent you. Then ask for Dr Mallard. Tell him what happened - I'll call an ambulance."

"An ambulance?" She repeated faintly, paling. "Is that necessary?"

"Well he hasn't woken up yet," he told her. "And since his lungs aren't in very good condition anyway…" He tailed off, thinking of various things that could happen before the EMTs got there.

Terri just nodded and ran down the street, after casting one lingering glance at the still form on the pavement. Gibbs shoved a hand through his hair wearily and used his other hand to call an ambulance.

~*~

Ducky had just finished writing out a report that Gibbs had asked him to do, concerning the stalker. In it, he wrote everything that they would have to look for in this person - they were obviously deluded to a certain extent, and possibly manic. He had just put it away neatly in a drawer when Jimmy came in.

"Ah, Doctor, there's a woman upstairs asking for you, she seemed pretty upset - she said that Agent Gibbs sent her."

Ducky looked up, intrigued, "Well then, Mr Palmer - let us go up and see her."

He led the way upstairs, and was soon face to face a woman who was crying, using a tissue a kindly security guard had given her.

"Can I help you, my dear?" He asked politely, offering his hand to be shook.

She smiled thickly and nodded, "Agent Gibbs told me to come and find you," she informed him. "He wanted me to tell you what I just saw - it's about Tony - I mean, Agent DiNozzo."

"It's Tony to his friends, my dear," Ducky said softly. "Please - tell us what you saw."

She took a deep breath and said, "I was walking around, looking for somewhere to get some lunch, and I saw Tony - we live next door to each other - and I went to say hi, but then this woman followed him as he went down a back alley, and then she put a tissue over his face that made him lose consciousness - it must have been chloroform. And then I tried to pull the woman off him; she was trying to drag him away - that's when Agent Gibbs came and tugged her off Tony. She ran away and he told me to come and tell you, while he called for an ambulance."

Ducky nodded seriously, "That was a very selfless thing you did, Miss…?"

"Conllyn," she told him. "Terri Conllyn - please, call me Terri. And anyone would have done it," she said. "We're very close, I always watch him when he has concussion - he gets hit a lot."

Ducky chuckled, before saying, "Mr Palmer; would you please go and tell Ziva, McGee and Abigail that Anthony is in the hospital - again."

Jimmy nodded and went off, while Ducky pulled Terri over and said, "I'm sure you're in shock, my dear - come with me, I'll get you a cup of tea down in the morgue. You know, I remember one time; back before NCIS when I was walking down a road, and a chap collapsed - right there and then. And do you know, no one went over to help him. So…"

Terri followed the ME, more concerned about the 'cup of tea down in the morgue' than the story,

~*~

Gibbs paced back and forth impatiently outside Tony's room. He hated himself right now. Hated himself for not going after that woman instead of leaving Terri with Tony. Hated himself for thinking it.

"Gibbs!" He heard Abby coming down the corridor and stop pacing. "Gibbs," the lab tech repeated. "How is he?"

"There's no damage to his lungs, or anything else," Gibbs told him. "As soon as he wakes up they said he can go."

"He's so accident prone." She sighed, gazing through the glass in the door that led to the unconscious agent in the bed.

"It wasn't an _accident_, Abby," Gibbs said. "Someone tried to abduct him."

"Why is it always him?" She lamented, as if she hadn't heard him. "Did you get a look at whoever it was?" She asked, switching topics.

"Yeah," he replied. "She looked pretty crazy. But when I managed to pull her off DiNozzo, she seemed to go… _sane _and ran off."

"Ducky's still with that woman who told us," Abby informed him. "He's giving her a cup of tea – with probably a drop of brandy as well."

Gibbs smiled slightly at this and was about to say something, before he noticed Tony slowly waking up from his short coma. He went in before Abby had noticed what happened, and went to sit next to the bed.

"Boss?" Tony's voice was weak, but he still managed to talk. "Boss, what happened?"

"What do you remember?" Gibbs asked calmly.

Tony shrugged, "I was walking down the road – no, I walking down a back alley. I was angry because…" He trailed off and glanced up at Gibbs with a guilty expression on his face.

"I already know, DiNozzo," Gibbs told him. "Ducky found him and stitched him up. We'll get to that later. So, you don't remember the woman?"

Tony squeezed his eyes shut, but soon opened them and shook his head sadly, "Sorry, Boss," he apologized. "I didn't see her face. She came up behind me. Then stuck something over my mouth."

"Chloroform," Gibbs said darkly. "We had to make sure it didn't affect your lungs; which is why you're in hospital."

"Oh…" Tony answered. "So, am I getting out soon?"

Gibbs nodded, "The doc said as soon as you're awake and lucid we can go. I need you to try and work with Terri…"

"Terri?" Tony questioned, his eyebrows furrowing as he thought.

"Your neighbour," Gibbs told him. "She was trying to pull the woman off you when I got there. Anyway – I want you to work with her and see if you can get her to make a composite photo of the woman. Then – you're going to tell me what happened between you and Morris."

~*~

When they got back to the office (And after McGee and Ziva had both expressed their worry for Tony), Gibbs took Terri down to Abby's lab to try and make a picture of the woman. Although Tony went down there, little help was required as it turned out Terri was quite a whizz at computer programmes.

When she said goodbye and hugged Tony heartily, Gibbs cocked a thumb towards the elevator, making the younger man groan. Once inside, Gibbs flicked the switch.

"Seriously, Boss – one day we're going to be stuck in here, and then eventually they'll get us out and find two skeletons – one that still smells of coffee and the other with its skull permanently dented at the back."

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said, resisting the urge to give him the head slap that would dent the back of his skull. "Focus – what did Morris say to make you knock him out?"

"Why are we doing this in here and not interrogation?" Tony asked.

"Because," Gibbs continued, "if we did it in interrogation it would imply you were in the wrong…"

"Boss you're a mind-reader," Tony said in delight, before sobering. "He started going on about how I've had loads of injuries since I started NCIS, and then started to talk about 'Shutter Island'."

"What?" Gibbs asked, confused.

"It's a movie, Boss," Tony informed him. "It's new. Basically this cop goes to a… a mental asylum and it starts to get to him. Then…" He was about to go on, and say what Morris had implied about his parents, but he didn't. He didn't want Gibbs thinking he was even more fragile than he already did.

Then?" Gibbs pressed, sensing the pause.

"Then I hit him," Tony said. "I shouldn't have, I know he was just trying to push my buttons, but I hit him. Sorry, Boss."

Gibbs looked at him. He could tell there was something more to this, but he knew that Tony wouldn't fold. He flicked the elevator switch again and could sense Tony's relief when it started to go.

It didn't matter. He was going to 'talk' to Morris now anyway.

**Okay, I know – rubbish chapter. I'm gonna have lots happen next, I assure you. The only reason why I had Tony be saved from abduction attempt #1 was because I thought of a few things that could happen whilst he was still being stalked. So bear with me ;) Review? xx**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, I know just how far behind I am with this . And I've just started another new NCIS fic as well D: What's wrong with me? But feel free to look back since I'm guessing no one can remember what happened previously. Sorry :(**

Gibbs left Tony in the elevator and stalked down some corridors. He knew Tony was leaving something out about his 'talk' with Morris, and he also knew that Morris wouldn't tell him what really happened willingly.

In that case, he decided, heading towards interrogation - he'd have to do it _un_willingly.

* * *

Morris was in the middle of another talk with an agent - after this he was planning on writing up what had happened between him and Agent DiNozzo. For now, though, he was doing his best to pretend that nothing had happened. He glared when the agent even _glanced_ at his new, impressive black eye.

The door suddenly swung open. He looked over and winced as he saw Agent Gibbs approach - his face unreadable.

The agent in there at the time ducked his head and mumbled something unintelligible before leaving, clearly not wanting to have any part in this.

"Agent Gibbs," he welcomed. "What can I do for you?"

"You can tell me why the hell you wanted to provoke my agent into punching you." Gibbs hissed, taking the seat opposite.

"I can assure you, Agent Gibbs - I did nothing of the sort," he replied elegantly, smoothing down his suit. "We were just having a conversation; it's not my fault your agent is... unbalanced."

"Unbalanced?" Gibbs snarled, leaning forward, causing Morris to lean back, intimidated. "You mentioned an undercover case he did in an asylum - you read all the reports; you _know _what that did to him."

"It's my opinion he needs to see a trained psychiatrist," Morris said, standing up. "If he does that to anyone who even _mentions _his parents; I'd hate to think what..." He was cut off from saying anything else as Gibbs had him pinned to the wall, slowly cutting off his airways with his elbow.

"You say _one _more word to him at all, and I will come back down here and finish this," Gibbs snarled. "People don't like strangers knowing everything about them, and I wonder what kind of demons we'd find in _your_ closet if we looked?" Gibbs threatened. "You're not going to write any of this, or what happened with DiNozzo up - otherwise I'll tell the Director the inspectors are going through private personnel files."

"The woman in Human Resources said I could!" He protested, trying to breathe.

Gibbs' grip loosened slightly. "Human Resources?" He repeated warily. He paused, and then put his arm back on Morris' throat. "Did she look through them too?" Morris' eyes bulged. "Did she?" He demanded.

"Yes!" Morris wheezed. "She was only over my shoulder! It doesn't matter!"

"Oh it matters," Gibbs told him, letting him go. "She now knows where he lives, what his number is, what car he drives, where he parks it - are you following?"

"That... the woman... blew up Agent DiNozzo's car?"

"And damn near killed him again this afternoon!" Gibbs yelled. "What did she look like?" He ordered. Morris shook his head, his eyes wide. "_What did she look like_?"

"She was just... normal!" Morris defended. "Pretty, dark hair... red shoes," he remembered, as if it was the key detail. "And I think her name was Alice, maybe?"

"Angelique?" Gibbs offered, remembering Tony's suspicions.

"M-maybe." The inspector stuttered, and dropped down on one of the chairs in the room.

Gibbs glared at him menacingly. "You had better _pray_ that she is still in the building." He said, and stormed out.

* * *

"McGee!" The agent in question jumped and looked up from his computer. "Have you got that list of people in HR yet?"

"Yes, Boss, and I've found a woman called Angelique Devon - she's 36, lives alone and has... just moved..." he trailed off, his eyes going wide.

"McGee; where to?" Gibbs demanded, growing impatient. And where the hell was DiNozzo?

"She moved in yesterday to an apartment block less than 5 minutes away from Tony's."

"Where's DiNozzo?"

"He said he was going down to see Abby." McGee stuttered, which caused Gibbs to leave in a whirlwind.

* * *

"Gibbs!" Abby trilled happily, spinning on her chair. "I knew you were about to come! I've got something!"

"Tell me it's DiNozzo." Gibbs said, unable to see his Senior Agent anywhere.

"Better!" She told him. "I found the face of the woman who planted the bomb!" She pressed some buttons and a face appeared on screen. "Meet Angelique - "

"Devon," Gibbs finished for her. "Abby - where's Tony?"

She blanched. "I don't know - I thought he was upstairs with you?"

"Gibbs, I think he's gone home," Ziva supplied. "He went to see Ducky and left looking angry."

Gibbs left once more; this time to go to the morgue. It felt like he'd been running round after DiNozzo for the majority of the time he'd spent working at NCIS.

* * *

"Jethro, what a surprise - I'm afraid I don't have anything for you - "

"Here about DiNozzo, Duck - what did he say?"

Ducky looked surprised. "I wanted to check him after that chloroform - I worry about that lad, even though the doctors - "

"Ducky, what happened?" Gibbs interrupted, his temper hanging by a thread.

"He had a slight wheeze, and I told him it would be best if he went home. He refused - and then the inspector came in."

"He what?" Gibbs asked, hushed.

"Yes, he wanted more painkillers for his face," Ducky then appeared to remember something. "He told Anthony that he was writing up a report for the Director; and that it would be in Tony's best interests to stay away from NCIS for a while."

Gibbs cursed loudly, startling Ducky when he threw his hands onto an autopsy table with a loud clang. "Where did he go?"

"He may have taken my advice." Ducky suggested, and watched as Gibbs grabbed his cell and pressed speed-dial.

"Of course he's not answering." Gibbs muttered to himself.

This was bad, he decided, and left autopsy without an explanation.

* * *

"McGee - track Tony's phone." Gibbs ordered, grabbing his gun and jacket.

"Yes, Boss," he hurried to do so, and after an agonizingly long time said, "he's on his street - probably walking home."

Gibbs nodded and went to leave.

"Uh, Boss?" McGee cried after him. "Why are you going? Surely it's best that he goes home?"

"_Think_, McGee!" Gibbs spat. "Who lives near him?"

* * *

_Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow_

Tony's abdomen felt like it was on fire - and his head and shoulder were throbbing too. He tried to look around, but only saw four dark walls. In fact, it was a pretty dark room. The only light seemed to be coming from candles; the windows had been boarded up; or maybe just covered with dark material.

He tried to move, but was stopped by thick ropes around his wrists and ankles.

"Shhh," came a voice from the darkness, startling him. "Everything will be fine."

"Why are you doing this?" He asked, still trying to get free. A cool hand laid on his arms, causing him to jump.

"Careful. I'm doing this for _us_, Tony. We need each other, and you want to stay with me forever." Her calm voice made Tony shiver.

"Yeah, that's not gonna work - I have commitment issues." He told her lightly.

"I'm going to etch our names into the stars if that's what it takes," she told him, coming round in front so he could see her. "But if I can't do that," she paused and took out a small silver knife, "I'm going to have to etch it on _you _instead."

Tony glanced down at himself. There was what he first feared was blood, but then realised was candle wax dripping down his chest and stomach. She had lit candles on top of him, and the burning sensation became too much to bear.

"Please," he begged quietly, seeing her advance with the knife, slowly making shapes on his skin. "Don't."

She paid him no heed and put her knife on his chest, starting to dig in harder, making an 'A' shape on his chest. He groaned in pain as he felt the blood mix with the wax; the wax slowly seeping into his new wound.

"Don't worry," she told him softly. "Everything will be alright."

* * *

Just as she said that, the door burst open. Tony jumped and tried to swivel to see who it was, but instead made Angelique nick him with the knife by accident.

"NCIS - drop the knife!" Tony wanted to cry at hearing his Boss' voice, but stiffened as he felt her put the knife to his throat.

"He's mine," she said fiercely. "If I can't have him - neither can you."

"Put the knife down - or I shoot." Gibbs' voice was carefully impassive, and didn't relay any emotion at all.

Tony was at a loss as to what happened next. The knife dug in on his throat, and then there was a series of gunshots, the blasts making him blink as the flash of the bullet exiting the chamber was made brighter in the darkness. He felt her slump on top of him, could _feel _her blood from the bullet wounds going over his body.

"Tony, Tony - you okay?" Gibbs asked, holstering his gun and carefully pulling the dead woman off him. On not hearing an answer, he immediately checked the wounds - the ones on his chest were deep, but the cut on his neck was thin and small. He hastily cut the ropes binding him and pulled him up. Immediately, Tony started to retch, and Gibbs turned him to vomit over the side of the table.

"Sorry, Boss," he said when finished, "Guess I came down with something." He didn't want to admit that the dead woman made him feel sick inside.

"Can you walk?" Gibbs asked, concerned.

Tony nodded and stood, swaying a little, feeling light-headed. Gibbs put a hand to his back to steady him, and said, "I had McGee call for an ambulance before I got here."

"Boss, there's no - "

"Yes, Tony; there is." Was all Gibbs said in reply, and gently took his agent down to where - sure enough - an ambulance was waiting.

* * *

Tony's whole chest was bandaged heavily, and he and Abby were comparing scars and Mummy references throughout the week he was in hospital. Tony was secretly pleased that Gibbs rarely left the hospital during the day; and had a sneaking suspicion that he was making McGee do his paperwork.

He was even happier when Abby and Ziva came to visit and said that Morris was under investigation for 'aiding and abetting' Angelique. Tony wanted to feel bad - the guy hadn't meant to let a deranged woman read private files - but he just couldn't.

The last day he was in hospital, he was getting ready to check out, and looked over to see Gibbs and Ducky stood at the door.

"It seems trouble follows you everywhere, my boy." Ducky said affectionately, patting his uninjured shoulder gently.

Tony grinned, "I guess. But you two didn't have to come all this way to see me off - I can walk home; or get a cab." He was still looking for a new car.

"Ah, well myself and Jethro were just in your apartment - " Tony quirked an eyebrow.

"Invasion of privacy much, Duck?"

Ducky smiled and conceded to nod his head. "We wondered just how secure it was from... future accidents."

"Nothing even happened in my apartment!" Tony argued, wincing as he bent to tie his laces.

"Be that as it may, but Jethro felt it important. He did was could be classed as - baby-proofing?" Ducky suggested, a twinkle in his eye.

Both Tony and Gibbs protested vehemently to this.

However, as they were leaving, he heard Tony tease Gibbs, "I hope you put rubber corners on my kitchen counters, Boss - who knows when I'll trip trying to reach my cereal."

A resounding _thwack _on his head answered that jibe. "If you're not careful I'll put up a gate to stop you getting out of bed without help." Gibbs retorted.

Tony was silent for a moment, before replying, "Thinking about it now, I guess I like the idea of not cutting my head open on my coffee table." He said this quickly and sullenly, careful of more head slaps. But Ducky saw the smirk at the corner of his mouth, and noticed the pat on the shoulder he was given by Gibbs.

He assumed Tony was better now.

**Okay - please don't hate me for this, but that's the final chapter. I just thought that I'm in the mood for writing, but not for this XD If I didn't finish it now, I'd never get round to it; and a crappy ending is better than no ending at all, right? Right? Sorry again, but this leaves me more room for my other fics :D **


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